Coalition of 23 Attorneys General File Suit to Block Rollback of Net Neutrality

A coalition of 23 Attorneys General in filled a petition on Thursday to formally commence their lawsuit against what they called the Federal Communications Commission’s “illegal” rollback of net neutrality.

The coalition filed a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after the FCC published the final rule rolling back net neutrality in today’s Federal Register.

As the Attorneys General will argue in their suit, under the Administrative Procedure Act the FCC cannot make “arbitrary and capricious” changes to existing policies, such as net neutrality.

According to a statement by the New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, the rule wrongly reclassifies broadband internet as a Title I information service, rather than a Title II telecommunications service, based on an erroneous and unreasonable interpretation of the Telecommunications Act. Also, the rule improperly and unlawfully includes sweeping preemption of state and local laws.

“Today, the FCC made official its illegal rollback of net neutrality – and, as promised, our coalition of Attorneys General is filing suit,” said Schneiderman.

“An open internet, and the free exchange of ideas it allows, is critical to our democratic process. Repealing net neutrality will allow internet service providers to put corporate profits over consumers by controlling what we see, do, and say online. Consumers and businesses in New York and across the country have the right to a free and open internet, and our coalition of Attorneys General won’t stop fighting to protect that right.”

The lawsuit is led by Attorney General Schneiderman, and filed by the Attorneys General of New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.